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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22573249">The Rise and Fall</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyLimbs/pseuds/LonelyLimbs'>LonelyLimbs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shall We Date?: Obey Me!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Demon, Devil, F/M, Hell, Other, Spoilers, obey me - Freeform, shall we date - Freeform, spoilers for obey me!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 10:15:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,579</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22573249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyLimbs/pseuds/LonelyLimbs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If demons weren’t meant to be idolised, why did they shine so brightly? She was drawn, like a moth blindly following. Lucifer had shown anger before, but not like this...never like this. Could he ever recover from the fear he’d instilled within her?</p><p>-</p><p>This work contains spoilers, based on chapter 12 and 13 of the game Obey Me! May possibly continue further past these chapters but for now this story will be about the events in these 2 chapters of the game. Honestly, just a shameless indulgence of my love for Lucifer and my genuine reaction to this moment.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Asmodeus/MC, Beelzebub/MC, Leviathan/MC, Lucifer/MC, Mammon/MC, Satan/MC, belphegor/mc, mention of - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>152</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue: The Rise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>‘Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell’- William Shakespeare (Macbeth)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two figures sat directly across from one another, surrounded by a heavy and suffocating tension.<br/>
The larger of the two was first to speak, his silken deep voice filling the empty spaces in the dim yet warmly lit room.</p><p>‘So, this is what it comes down to then?’ Lucifer breathed conclusively, as if to say there was no way around the predicament he and the other had caught themselves in. ‘If we hope to get everyone who disappeared back, we have to finish this <b>ridiculous</b> game,’ he took a short pause, collecting his thoughts into a vocalisation, ‘and to do that, you have to defeat me, since I’m the final boss’.</p><p>Lucifer shifted his crossed legs and moved across his seat a touch, searching for a comfort that he could not find in words or thoughts. She simply resorted to folding her hands over one another repeatedly, kneading her palms with her thumbs in an anxious fidget. She didn’t utter a word in response, he was saying all that had to be said.</p><p>‘Either that or we have to fall in love with each other’.</p><p>His voice sounded more resigned and contemplative with this fact, thankfully unaware of the way her cheeks were set ablaze by the words merely being spoken from his lips.</p><p>Falling in love with him surely would be no difficult task. He was a beautiful man, ethereal even after his fall from heaven. Darkness truly did become him, but only in the matters of physical beauty and stature- his heart was not evil or corrupted, only experienced, hardened and set with the task of protecting his siblings with such fierce determination. It was almost as if he’d <em>never stopped</em> being an angel, in her eyes at the very least.</p><p>No, falling in love with him would prove no challenge at all, because he had made it easy from the moment she’d met him, and it only got easier as they grew to know one another. If love was a flower, it had managed to bloom within her heart, alerting her that even beauty sprouts from the depths of hell.</p><p>Yet, the hardship she expected to face was this love being requited.<br/>
After all, how could he <em>possibly</em> love a <b>human</b>...</p><p>How could he love <em>her</em>?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Hard Queries, Harder Answers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>“Thou canst not woo her with love, for she is love” - Aleister Crowley (The Vision and the Voice)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lucifer held this situation in a much more serious light than any of his brothers could hope to -a surprise to no one- and she was thankful for this. </p>
<p>“Though it should technically be possible for you to defeat me, I can’t say with confidence that I wouldn’t retaliate by reflex...”, it was only a murmur, but with only the sounds of a crackling fire filling this library space, she heard it loud and clear.</p>
<p>It was no threat, it beared no intentional malice. He was factual in this statement, although she had her doubts on being able to take down a demon, especially the oldest of these infamous seven. His response to her feeble attempt at an attack would be instinctual, and rightfully so.</p>
<p>“And if I caused your death because of something like that, I’d never be able to face Diavolo again”. She found herself wanting to ask him how such an outcome would make him feel, but she bit back her tongue knowing she would not get any sort of answer she sought.</p>
<p>“So it would seem that our only choice is to fall in love with each other”, a welcomed choice by her, no matter how forced into it the two of them seemed. “...Honestly, why does he always have to go out and buy such <em>strange</em> games?” Lucifer heaved his sigh so deeply she almost thought he was suffering, and she wondered if falling in love with the likes of her would really be such a burden.</p>
<p>There was a strong effort in concealing the painful blow to her esteem his words took, and he had no difficulty glancing over them while deep in thought, he simply didn’t notice. She mustered her voice to finally input something into the two way conversation, genuine wonder plaguing her voice enough to conceal its previous hurt.</p>
<p>“What are we supposed to do to fall in love in this game?” She was sure to mention that it was for the game, it was all for the game. If she even suggested it was for other purposes she knew she’d only be setting herself up to be knocked down gloriously and heartbreakingly. Lucifer leaned in, elbow to knee and hand cradling his chin, not looking at her but past, recalling what he could of the game.</p>
<p>“I looked at every website imaginable for answers but...the game has only just been released. So apparently, there still aren’t any strategies anywhere on how to achieve that ending”. It made perfect sense, albeit providing perfect frustration and lending no help to the distraught situation. Her eyes held firmly on his face, watching as the thoughts flipped through his mind, his mental processes almost proving visible.</p>
<p>“Listen, I was thinking... what if we simply left things the way they are? That wouldn’t be so bad, right? If we decided to give up now, then it would only mean the others wouldn’t return to us, right? I mean, do we <em>really</em> need those guys anyway?”<br/>
The optimist within her could have easily confused the word ‘we’ as something loaded with unexplored feeling and only meant for her and him, had she not been overwhelmed with bewilderment by his queries. This was...this was Lucifer, yes? The man who so ‘fiercely’ wished to protect his brothers? That same man was now suggesting to ignore their complete disappearance...</p>
<p>She could only manage to choke out “<b>Yes we do</b>!” incredulously, mouth slack with shock and perhaps a little offended as if to remind him of himself.</p>
<p>“...Right. Guess we don’t have a choice then”. She was truly lost for words, only numbing to her ever growing pain as he really suggested that losing his brothers would be more acceptable than attempting to harbour feelings for her. “So, why don’t we try starting with the fundamentals of love and then go from there”. Trust Lucifer to be as logical as always, taking on such an approach with thought rather than feeling.<br/>
“If you want to develop feelings for someone, you both need to start by getting to know each other, isn’t that right?” She gave a curt nod in reply, waiting for the end of the proposal he was making. “So, I’ll ask you some questions and you should answer honestly. <em>Understood</em>?”</p>
<p>In any other situation the command in his voice would prove worrisome for her heart rate and her composure, but the dejected feeling the night had garnered so far was too great to be swayed by simple tone of voice. “How do you <b>really</b> feel about what’s going on right now?” Lucifer questioned slowly, as if gauging her reaction and savouring it, attempting to decipher the truth in her eyes. </p>
<p>“I think it’s fun,” came her well thought response. It may have contained traces of a lie, but for the most part was true. If she thought about it in any other light than the one it was cast in, it was a fun situation and a decent sounding game, even if only that, a <em>game</em>. </p>
<p>“I see,” he began, before the warm smile she secretly coveted showed itself, almost enough to wash away her prior unhappiness. “If we relax and actually try to enjoy this, it might make things easier”.<br/>
What he truly meant, she could only assume, was that it would make <em>her</em> easier. He wouldn’t feel so pressured into loving a human, but rather take it as if it were his own choice to, and something he could slip in and out of like a shirt. Almost like she was a storm to weather.</p>
<p>“All right, next question. Which one of us brothers are you interested in?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Drowning in Sweet Sin</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>“So sweet is this song that no one could resist it. For in it is all the passionate ache for the moonlight, and the great hunger of the sea, and the terror of desolate places,—all things that lure men to the unattainable.” - Aleister Crowley (The Vision and the Voice)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The question itself was enough to threaten her balance on the chair she sat. The answer could almost do more.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes were snatched into his gaze by the words, and she was sure this would be a telltale sign. He was the first face she imagined, her tongue wrapping around the L beginning his name. Had the situation been casual, friendly, and without the pressure of forcing her truths into the light, she may not have hesitated to say his name.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> But then came Beel’s face, the comfort in his smile and the late nights he had so happily agreed to spend with her. At least he gave her some hope of feeling, even if it were delusion on her part. Or Mammon. For all his idiocy, and times he refused to admit the kindness she knew he had, loving him could be so simple, because she knew there was a chance he’d love her back. She could easily say any of the boys names, but it would make her current situation harder to push through and while not a lie at all (she did in fact find interest in a few of the boys), would be forced off her tongue in the face of the man she held dear, and wanted just as much even if his feelings were never to be the same.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He had told her only an hour ago that he appreciated her ability to speak her feelings freely, and so she would.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You, Lucifer.” <br/>He couldn’t possibly make his rejection any clearer, obvious in his disdain for the idea of forced feelings, but she hoped her blunt confession would have him take it easy on her poor little heart, and understand she had no chance fighting against a love for someone as stunning as himself. She was powerless to his voice, his charm, the way he spoke so firmly and with conviction. Surely he would understand that his nature was to allure, as deadly as a sin, and she was only human.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The surprise was evident, as he must have thought she would be enamoured with one of his brothers. While she was, and she could not deny the attraction she had for every one of them, her interests lie in only a few of them with serious intention to pursue (this intention fading with every harsh blow to her heart Lucifer’s implied rejection gave). </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well then, that’s very...<em>convenient</em>,” he slightly choked out the words, mulling over the way his name came from her; he drunk it in like a sweet wine, almost exactly as she did, after all his name tasted sweet on her tongue.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He could not possibly admit in that moment he was savouring it, relishing in it, but his pride secretly got the better of him, and he was glad to be chosen above all the others. He <b>especially</b> could not admit to the glow it gave him to be chosen by <em>her</em>. It was something he denied existed even to himself.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now, this time you get to ask me a question,” he began, already watching the question form on her tongue and holding up a finger in a bid to wait. “You may <em>never</em> get another chance to do this, you know. So make sure you choose your question carefully.” He lowered his hand and gestures to the empty space before him, ready for her to ask away.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was a warning she took in consideration as the question she had was ready to be spoken into existence.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me about your past experiences with love.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Devilish Delight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>“She had no voice so she gave it to the devil.” - Jordan G. Kobos</p><p>-Sorry for such a short chapter, the next one is conversely quite large-</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“My past experiences with love? You <em>really</em> want to hear about that?” He tested the waters with a quirk of his eyebrow, and zoned in on each micro expression to the very best of his abilities. The way her lip twitched slightly and her eyes darted away from him only to settle back into his gaze. He wanted to know how she felt at the idea of him loving another. Would there be jealousy? Discomfort? Apathy?</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Well, what would you rather hear about? Everything up to 5000 years ago or everything from the last 5000 years? Either way, just giving you a synopsis alone would take about </span><b>100 years</b>, I’d say.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>There it was. </em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He could almost feel it now, the way she held back her cough and fought down the blush that threatened to take her face by force. It was almost amusing to him how easily human’s emotions could override their will, and while demons were not too much better off in their composure, they had a better time fighting themselves. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course, that’s assuming I can remember each one of them.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Oh, how he wished he could pick apart the thoughts in her mind the moment he’d said that. Her eyes widened and she was very much stunned to know that Lucifer, for all his sternness and rigid attitude, had supposedly had many a lover. In fact, all she could do was look at him, unable to give him a directive as to what she wanted to hear. If she told the truth, she regretted asking in the first place. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He smirked, and it was not smug, but rather humoured by her, and the answers he got simply from watching her. He bathed his mind in her image over and over, unintentionally of course, proud of his ability to make her jealous of his many fictional lovers. He supposed he ought to stop there, after all he was trying to win the game, and the game was her heart. As ridiculous a game it was that Leviathan had gotten them into, Lucifer was not one to backdown from a challenge, and this is one he would be winning.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...Oh, don’t look at me like that. I was only joking,” he chuckled, not missing the way she let her breath go in a relief she likely didn’t know she had.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She herself looked away, not impressed by Lucifer’s teasing but not at all surprised. After all, having lived as long as he had, surely he had felt love? </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It wasn’t something she was keen on lingering on, but it tugged at her mind nonetheless.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Thousands upon thousands of years, he’d lived. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Someone had to have had the pleasure of tasting the lips of his prideful sin.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was just envious it hadn’t been <em>her</em> pleasure to indulge in.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Unspoken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>“I watched him even then as he fell, his face undefeated, his eyes still proud.” - Neil Gaiman (Preludes and Nocturns-The Sandman, #1)</p><p>——<br/>I lied, this chapter wasn’t longer; they honestly just read better as shorter little chapters!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Anything else you’d like to ask?” He offered, sliding further into his chair and letting his arms rest along the arms, peering at her curiously. His casual demeanour has her breath caught in her throat, her imagination begging to run wild. She would not let it.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">He’d had his fun teasing her, and now was far more interested in the next questions she’d speak into the open space between them.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What do you think of humans?” </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She didn’t skip a beat, or hesitate. She wanted to know his standpoint. She had been painfully aware that many among Devildom looked down upon the humans that lurked above, but what Lucifer specifically thought of them meant more to her than the random citizens of this place she’d been forced into.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What do I think of humans? Oh no,” he began, laughing heartily and shaking his head, “I don’t think that’s <em>really</em> what you want to ask. What you really mean is, ‘what do you think of <em>me</em>,’ right?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She couldn’t deny the way he saw right through her, knew what she really wanted. His views on her, not as a human or a student, but as an entity, is what she was most curious about. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What <b>do</b> I think of you? Good question...</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Well, you’re an exchange student from the human world. When you first arrived, I thought that all I had to do was make sure that you survived a year here without any incidents, being careful to ensure that you didn’t get yourself eaten by some random demon somewhere.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Deep in thought and memory, Lucifer let out a deep and baited breath. He looked almost frustrated, wrestling with the words to find to describe her time spent in his company. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“But it didn’t turn out to be so easy. You did what you wanted, unafraid of the consequences, and you constantly stuck your nose into others’ business...”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She herself, upon hearing this critique of her person, huffed and frowned within her thoughts (although she dare not do so aloud). She did not remember it in such a way, but was certain that even if she had been particularly nosey or difficult, she wasn’t to blame. After all, she’d been taken from her life, ripped from it even, and slapped right in the middle of a mess in the kingdom of demons. She was only human, and to be overwhelmed with the quarrels of a family that was literally sin incarnate was understandable.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“And in the end, you began to make pacts with my brothers one by one.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Why <em>did</em> you do that, anyway?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She hoped he couldn’t see the colour leave her cheeks, because she could certainly feel it.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">He did not pause to take in her reaction. He simply stared off across the many books, racking over his thoughts, trying to piece them together himself.</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“You’ve said that you wanted me to recognise your worth, but what’s your <b>real purpose</b>? What are you trying to achieve long term?”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><b><em>‘Lucifer’</em></b>, she begged within the confines of her tormented mind,<b><em> ‘I truly do want you to see me for who I am. I promise this wasn’t a lie...but...’</em></b></span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">There he was. Behind her eyes, when she closed them, she saw Belphegor staring right back at her. His eyes were so deep, so full of...of something. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but those eyes screamed for her help, and she was in no position to deny giving it. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“To be completely honest,” Lucifer’s voice rang out, pulling her abruptly from her thoughts and back into the moment, “you’ve been a real pain to deal with.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“But you’re also very special. More special than you are difficult...</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">You’re changing me...and my brothers too.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Lucifer, for the first time since her arrival, had an affectionate softness in his eyes she’d never been acquainted with. It melted her on the spot, as she unconsciously let her body lean forward into his words. She was convinced she could fall right into those eyes, lost in them for all eternity. It would certainly be a joyous eternity. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">He said her name, and the feeling intensified by tenfold. He also let the weight of his body fall slightly, so they were gazing at one another, drawn to one another. It was followed by</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“The truth is that I...”</span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1"><b><em>‘You what?!’ </em></b>she shouted into the abyss within. </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">He didn’t finish the sentence. He opted to instead look away, regaining the distant look in his eyes, and keeping the secrets of his feelings just that: a secret. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Devil In Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>“So I'm asking you… remember me. Just try, even when all thought of me is wiped away clean. Remember me like I’ll remember you for the rest of my tortured existence.” - S.L Jennings (Fallen Reign)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is there anything else you’d like to ask?” Lucifer repeated in the stead of finishing his previous words.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her breath was caught in her chest, hesitant in speaking and sweaty at the palms. Fingers clumsily tugged at the sleeves of her shirt, and she brought her hands together in her lap.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A deep breath in, eyes averted. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Now was it; the moment she needed to be able to speak to Lucifer honestly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I want you to make amends with Belphegor.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was simply met with deafening silence, almost feeling the breath knocked out of his lungs.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...Wh-What did you say...?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Would she regret stealing a glance at his eyes, seeing the disturbance deep within them? Yes she would. Yet she did so anyway, taking note of the way they grew darker, almost malicious in appearance.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wait, don’t tell me...” he started, shaking both head and hand, looking off to the side with his forearms resting on his knees. It’s almost as if he were talking and thinking to himself, but she very much knew it was directed to her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...that you actually met with him? That you went to that room?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lucifer now peered at her, from an angle that sent a chill down her spine and tended her feet. She wanted to run, but knew it would be useless against him. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The only word she could use to describe how she felt was petrified.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...and you MET Belphegor?!” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His eyes were pitch black. It was a look that reminded her what sort of being he really was.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He unexpectedly stood, sending his seat back with such force she was sure he’d broken it to pieces. Raven black wings unfurled from his body, and she understood what this meant. There was a flash, almost as if a lightning strike, and a gasp was pulled from her lungs. Danger lurked in the air, staining every breath she took, soaking into her bones. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>It was him</em>. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was the danger. Like shadows in the night, or eyes peering from a wardrobe slightly ajar. Like a silhouette at the end of an empty road. He was danger, and he was absolutely, terribly <em>frightening</em>.<br/>
</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Horns, a telltale signs of his demon form, had adorned his head. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He looked like death walking.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He felt like an oncoming apocalypse.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was in this moment she realised the last of whatever ‘humanity’ he had was no longer there.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You went up those stairs, didn’t you?! You knew you weren’t allowed to, but you did it anyway! You went up there and...you met Belphegor?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This felt like the end. Breathing was becoming increasingly difficult.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do you REALLY find it so amusing to poke your nose into our business at every opportunity?” As he spoke, as he advanced upon her, towering over and casting the darkest of shadows, he took hold of the small table that had sat between the two of them and flung it to his side without much thought.<br/>
Her body acted in response, not a choice but an instinct, a need to survive. She jumped up, taking the opportunity to dash behind the chair she’d occupied, her hands held up before her chest in surrender.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next words he spoke were a roar, a bellow that was no longer reminiscent of one person speaking to another. No, his voice was distorted into something of a snarl, true to his demonic nature.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“YOU...a mere HUMAN?! YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT...!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She closed her eyes and clenched her fists, arms crossed over her face in defence. She submitted to the darkness. Her face was slick with hot, eerie tears.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b><em>‘I’m sorry’</em></b>, she thought to herself. It was for him. So much of what she thought or did was for him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She let herself cherish the sight of his smile one more time, the smile of the devil that felt like heaven.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Your Heart is Too Sweet to be Broken</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>“He still loved her—and every moment that he didn’t have her hurt him deeply. That was why he’d spent the past nine days with a shadow of her soul, why he’d sought to reset the entire universe to have her back.” - Lauren Kate (Rapture, Fallen #4)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The expected blow never fell. In darkness she waited, curled up in defence with eyes squeezed shut. Instead, clamouring and voices, known and somehow comforting. A shout, just beyond her person.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“<b>STOP</b>!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The voice was familiar, although strained in a way she’d never heard before.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, woah, hey! Wait a minute!” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mammon.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A whisper just beside her, not meant for her but heard by her.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wow, is it just me, or does this situation look genuinely serious?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Asmodeus. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Were all the brothers there? Had they all somehow returned, just in time to witness the wrath of the oldest of them?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">How had they returned? A query that could wait, but an interesting one nonetheless.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She permitted her eyes to open, noticing the looming figures immediately.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s like, an actual battle going on here? It totally is, isn’t it?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Leviathan. </span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">While his words were not so comforting, his presence definitely was. She felt </span><em>safe</em>, knowing that as long as they were there, they surely wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Or, they would at least try. Ahead of her, Mammon had his hands outstretched toward Lucifer, and Beel stood with a tilted stance, half of his body centred to her and the other half toward his enraged brother. Asmo and Levi stood beside one another, to her right, Satan was on her left, a formation that ensured she was shielded from the fury Lucifer wielded.<br/><br/></p><p class="p1">
  <strong> <span class="s1">“All of you, out of the way! I’m going to tear that human limb from limb!”</span> </strong>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It took only those few words for time to no longer flow correctly. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Perhaps it was her heart that slowed in pace. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It left her swaying with unease, all colour and life falling away from her cheeks; no matter how warm the nearby fireplace was, she could only feel ice in her veins.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">‘Tear That human <em>limb from limb</em>’, he’d bellowed. He’d certainly sounded like he meant it, too.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The sentence rattled in her mind, drowning her senses until the fear of those words was all she knew in that moment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The tears that swelled not only blurred her vision, but they <em>hurt</em>. Her eyes stung with the overflow, and she was unable to be hold them back no matter how hard she attempted. They streaked her cheeks, burning the cold, paled skin like they were carving themselves into her, a permanent reminder of how badly this <em>hurt</em>.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Wide, wavering, and oh so human eyes were glued to the looming figure of the man...the <em>demon</em> who’d so confidently shared his smile with her but moments ago. He now snarled at the sight of her, only when he could bring himself to actually look at her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mammon and Asmodeus could see it as soon as they locked their own eyes onto her figure. What he had said frightened her more than anything in Devildom ever could. It wasn’t his demon form that shook her, although admittedly frightening. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Just his words.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wanted <strong>him</strong>. He wanted her <strong>dead</strong>.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To him, she was nothing more than the pain of a human who had meddled in his affairs and was better off gone.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head, a ringing in her ears wrapping around her brain and hazing her thoughts. Stumbling, looking for solid ground, something to halt the feeling of her heart falling from her body, she hit the wall closest to the entrance, the pain of the collision against her back nothing compared to the pain of Lucifer’s glare. She could only watch on now as the brothers stood against one another in a thick tension that could have suffocated her, had her breath not already been stolen by agony.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Woah! We’re not about to step out of the way and let you do somethin’ like that!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Foolish Mammon. Stubborn, careless, kind Mammon. She cursed herself for not being able to find the voice to tell him to leave. He would surely be hurt, as would all of them, as a result of her naive actions. She couldn’t face that, not in a million lifetimes could she face that. Nor would she be able to stomach the thought of Lucifer inflicting pain upon his own brothers, the sort of pain too severe to undo.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">On edge, jittery, she flinched at the slightest movement, and the first movement that caught her attention came from Beel. He walked forward, his hands balled and his aura growing increasingly darkened.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That stuff about Belphie...what’s going on?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a collective feeling among those witnessing Beel and Lucifer’s shared gaze. It weighed on her, pressed on her chest, and she could see it in the way the others looked at one another knowingly.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b> <em>‘Oh no.’</em> </b> </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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